Regional league looming?

How Leoben reacts to the Bundesliga basket!

Will DSV Leoben be back in the regional league next season?(Bild: Pail Sepp)

Second division soccer club DSV Leoben also got a basket from the Bundesliga protest committee. The blast furnace club is not taking this lying down and is now going to the arbitration court. According to the club from Upper Styria, the recent refusal to issue a pick is incomprehensible. The captain now takes over the vacant coaching position at KSV.

After the sensational rise of DSV Leoben, the team could now fall into a deep slump! This is because the Bundesliga protest committee has also denied the traditional club, which marched through from the regional league to the second division, approval in the second instance. According to the Bundesliga, this was due to financial reasons.

Now the blast furnace team only has the option of going before the Permanent Neutral Court of Arbitration. "We are meeting with the board, lawyers and our auditors on Tuesday. We have until May 7 to submit everything," explains Mario Bichler, who no longer understands the world after the latest refusal to issue a sticker: "This is a catastrophe, we are shocked!" says the DSV chairman.

Leoben chairman Mario Bichler goes to the court of arbitration.(Bild: Pail Sepp)

According to the club management, the reason for the new "no": "Anonymous reports and media coverage. No indicators were violated in either application for admission. The extremely tight decision deadline of seven days in the protest proceedings is cited as the reason"

Nerves fluttering over relegation
In addition to DSV Leoben, the protest committee also denied FC Dornbirn admission in the second instance, meaning that the horror scenario of forced relegation could become a reality for both clubs in the summer. And the relegation battle in the second division would become obsolete, as in such a case only the team at the bottom of the table (currently Amstetten) would have to go down to the regional league.

In addition to Sturm II, Kapfenberg could also benefit from this, as they fired coach Abdulah Ibrakovic on Sunday evening after a negative run in the spring (only one win in nine games). Captain Matthias Puschl will take over as player-coach and will experience his baptism of fire on Friday at direct rivals Dornbirn. "We absolutely want to win the league on a sporting basis and not be dependent on other clubs not getting admission," KSV president Erwin Fuchs made clear in a sportsmanlike manner.